Frederick "Barbarossa" (Italian for "redbeard") was a duke of Swabia, a German King, and Holy Roman Emperor. He spent much of his reign engaged in a long struggle with Pope Alexander III, who sought to establish the papacy independently from the empire and excommunicated Frederick.

The emperor attempted to establish the German states as preeminent in Europe and fought in ongoing wars with northern Italy. After making his peace with Pope Alexander III, Frederick embarked on the Third Crusade (1189) with Philip Augustus of France and Richard I of England. He drowned on the Third Crusade while trying to cross the Saleph River.